I am currently settling in for the panels at the Cubs Convention, but this bears passing on:
davis gets $161M for 7 years #orioles
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 16, 2016
ian kennedy, royals in agreement on $70M, 5-yr deal
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 16, 2016
First of all, well done, Jon Heyman. That’s two big scoops in the span of nine minutes, early on a Saturday morning. Each player is a Scott Boras client, for whatever that’s worth.
[adinserter block=”1″]So, Chris Davis returns to the Orioles on an absolutely enormous deal, which includes a full no-trade clause (Rosenthal). It’s hard for me to imagine how Davis is getting that deal in a market where Yoenis Cespedes and Justin Upton seem to be having trouble clearing $100 million, but we’ll see how those deals shake out. And, admittedly, when Davis is at his best, he’s an MVP-caliber player.
As for Ian Kennedy … wow. That’s quite a haul for a guy many were assuming would ultimately land a two or three-year deal. Still, although he’s coming off a down season, his peripherals indicated there was a lot of bad luck for him last year. I actually like him to be pretty good in the next few years, though I’m not sure I would have wanted him at that price tag.
One other thing to note: finally a couple pricey free agents signing in the American League.
